Family of man killed by California cops claim racial profiling in shootings of 4 Latino men

The family of a man fatally shot in May by police in Salinas, California, have filed a federal lawsuit against the city, claiming racial profiling has played a part in police killings of four Latino men in the space of five months.

The family of Carlos
Mejia, killed by Salinas police on May 20, filed the federal
lawsuit on December 23, in the US District Court for the Northern
District of California. They claimed Mejia’s death and the fatal
police shootings of three other men signified "an entrenched posture of deliberate
indifference" to
Latinos.

Mejia was the third man fatally shot by law enforcement in the
string of four shooting deaths after Angel Ruiz, killed on March
20, and Osman Hernandez on May 9. Frank Alvarado was shot dead by
police on July 7, according to the complaint.

On May 20, police were called after Mejia allegedly broke into a
home, exposed himself to a woman, and attacked her dog,
according to the Monterey County Weekly. Mejia’s family has
claimed he was going door-to-door looking for work.

The Mejia family said when officers Danny Warner and Josh Lynd,
both named in the lawsuit, confronted Carlos he walked away.
After two failed attempts to use a Taser on Mejia,
according to KSBW, the officers drew their weapons.

Carlos faced police from a distance of about 5 to 10 feet holding
the backpack and gardening shears, his family said. When he made
a “slight movement,” he was shot, they said in the suit,
according to Courthouse News. Carlos Mejia died at the scene.

"The decedent's [deceased’s] body lay on the street uncovered
for several hours in plain view, intimidating witnesses and the
community alike," the complaint stated.

"[Mejia] complied with the officers’ commands," says the
lawsuit, filed by civil rights attorney John Burris, according to
the Monterey County Weekly.

Mejia’s shooting death
riled the community, as coincidentally on that very day, May
20, activists had already planned a protest at the Salinas City
Hall over the fatal shooting of Hernandez a couple of weeks
earlier.

Mejia’s family claimed in the suit that the shooting deaths came
under "questionable circumstances” amid "an official
policy, entrenched culture and posture of deliberate indifference
toward protecting citizen’s rights."

Video footage and eyewitness accounts, they said, counter the
officers’ stated justifications for use of deadly force against
all four men. They also alleged that the Salinas Police
Department has routinely condoned use of excessive force while
failing to discipline rogue officers.

Mejia’s brother, Jose Roberto Mejia-Gomez, his father, Elias
Mejia-Baires, and Carlos’ 8-year-old daughter are plaintiffs in
the suit. The young girl is not named in the suit, but is
represented by activist Margaret Serna Bonetti.

The Mejia family is seeking punitive damages for wrongful death,
gross negligence and civil rights violations, amongst other
claims.

Salinas City Attorney Chris Callihan didn’t comment to the
Monterey County Weekly, as the city had yet to be served with the
suit.

A Salinas Police Department investigation into Mejia’s killing is
ongoing, according to reports.